Ramirez Rides History Into Battle for NL East
Will good – and HanRam’s RBI streak – triumph, or the Pirates prevail?
By JANIE CAMPBELL
Updated 1:45 PM EST, Fri, Jul 3, 2009
.jpg "MIAMI - APRIL 06: Emilio Bonifacio #1 and Hanley Ramirez #2 of the Florida Marlins celebrate their teams' victory over the Washington Nationals on opening day at Dolphin Stadium on April 6, 2009 in")
Say what you will about the Marlins’ prospects, ownership, or attendance – nothing can be taken away from the incredible season shortstop Hanley Ramirez is quietly having.
With at least one run batted in during each of the last 10 games – the most of any National League shortstop, ever, a franchise record, and the season's longest in the majors – Ramirez is very much responsible for Florida finding themselves mere percentage points behind Philadelphia heading into tonight’s three-game tussle against Pittsburgh at Land Shark.
In fact, our expert calculations estimate he’s 40% responsible:
Win = x + [.4Ramirez] + [.4Johnson] + [.25other Marlins] – y
(Where x is runs allowed, y is minor league desperation baggage, and margin of error = +/- Emilio Bonifacio)
Ramirez, who’s .450 with 24 RBIs and five home runs since June 21, could be forgiven for grabbing a little limelight or being found hopped up on ‘shrooms with a couple of strippers in a blacklit tub of pico de gallo or fighing chickens or however it is athletes celebrate these days.
But he just keeps on keeping on, and giving credit to those batting before him.
"[Chris Coghlan and Emilio Bonifacio, batting first and second] are doing a good job getting on base," Ramirez said. "It's a team, not just me."
Well, it’s the Marlins, anyway, which means that no one’s really paying much attention outside of South Florida (except the Sporting News, bless their hearts). Since we want to keep our grubby mitts on him, that's just the way we like it.
Janie Campbell believes in ballpark hot dogs and the pro-set. Her work has appeared in irreverent sports sites around the Internet.
First Published: Jul 3, 2009 12:12 PM EST
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